Michigan Department of Education Segment 8: Restorative Conferencing

Michigan Department of Education
Segment 8: Restorative Conferencing
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Introduce some basics about the Restorative
Conferencing process.
Show an example of how a restorative
conference was used to resolve a situation in
the Lansing schools.
Engage in a circle discussion on
conferencing.
Informal
Formal
Based on the IIRP’s Restorative Practices
Handbook Page 12
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On the RJ Practices Continuum, the formal practices include
Restorative Circles and Conferences. These two interventions
have many similarities including:
 Both engage at least 1 person who has been harmed and one
who has caused harm and can also include community members as
supporters and/or persons who have been harmed.
 Both are conducted with participants sitting in circle.
 Both are facilitated discussions in which those directly affected
develop consensus on how best to address the incident.
 Both work through the three main points or RJ:
 Come to a common understanding of what happened.
 Identify whose been affected and how.
 Develop consensus on how to make things right.
And they have some significant
differences . . .
Restorative Circles and Conferences differ in some significant ways
as outlined below. Each intervention can provide a useful
approach to different situations where RJ can help resolve conflict
or address misconduct.
Restorative Circles
Restorative Conferences
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Flexible format within
circle setting
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Shared control
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Builds consensus
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Useful for more than just
resolving conflict
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Highly structured and
scripted within circle
setting
Helps facilitator maintain
tight control of process
Allows for deep exploration
of issues
Used to resolve conflict with
clear victim(s) and
offender(s)
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There’s much more to a restorative conference than
reading a script and sitting in circle! This practice is a
powerful tool schools, prisons, and other organizations
use to address their most challenging situations of
misconduct.
Many school districts designate one or more restorative
justice practitioners to become certified in restorative
conferencing.
A number of restorative justice organizations and trainers
offer this 2-day certification. Contact your area
mediation center to see if they have trainings coming up!
The centers are listed at this link to the Michigan Supreme
Court Office of the State Court Administrator site:
http://courts.mi.gov/administration/scao/officesprograms
/odr/pages/find-a-mediation-center.aspx
Or contact the International Institute for Restorative
Practices at http://www.iirp.edu/ to see if they
have any trainings scheduled near you.
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While a circle can help students resolve almost
any conflict or incident of misconduct, the
conference script requires a clear victim and clear
offender.
It is also a more powerful tool than the circle for
maintaining control and keeping participants
emotionally and physically safe during the
process.
Whether you use the circle process or restorative
conference, remember to check the situation
against the following preconditions before
deciding to attempt a restorative resolution.
You must answer YES to the following questions to
successfully use the formal RJ interventions.
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Are at least some of those harmed willing to talk with
other affected parties to resolve the issue? (Willing
participation is ESSENTIAL!)
Have any of those who caused harm taken
responsibility for their actions, and are they
interested in making things right?
Is there a benefit to resolving the issue restoratively?
Is there value, even if an offending party is not
identified or willing to participate?
Can you keep everyone physically and emotionally
safe throughout the process and can you be neutral so
you can treat all parties with equal respect?
Preparation is KEY!
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IF CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE PENDING OR LIKELY, wait until the
case has been resolved in the criminal/juvenile justice system
before attempting a restorative resolution to the situation.
Because all participants must take responsibility for their actions,
you could be violating a participant’s constitutional right against
self-incrimination if you engage him/her in restorative justice
before the case is legally resolved.
Many schools use conferencing when they are engaging parents
with students in an intervention. The scripted nature of the
conference helps limit interruptions and curb the temptation
adults sometimes have to take over the process.
Conferences are most often used for serious incidents of
misconduct or volatile situations that demand the facilitator’s
tight control over the intervention.
As you prepare and learn about the nature of the incident, be
sure you feel comfortable addressing this situation restoratively.
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If you cannot feel confident that you can hold all
participants safely in circle, consider co-facilitating with
someone who has experience in this area or finding
another facilitator who can.
Some people, for example, have experience counseling
survivors of sexual violence and would feel comfortable
facilitating a conference on this issue, but many do not.
Other situations that can be considered risky include
domestic violence, severe bullying, mental health
problems and/or low cognitive function of one or more
participants.
Within your group, talk about other situations
you would NOT feel comfortable facilitating and
identify challenging situations that others do
feel they can handle restoratively and safely
for all involved.
This is an example of a case study of a
restorative conference from the Lansing
School District.
Note how various viewpoints are represented
and how the restorative process worked for
Ryan and his family and school community.
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If you are taking this training alone, skip to the questions at the
bottom of this slide and think about their answers. If you are in a
group, arrange your chairs in a circle with everyone facing into the
center.
Taking turns so that only one person speaks at a time, go around the
circle so that each person answers the first question listed in bold
below.
Once everyone has answered the first question, follow the same
process to answer the remaining two questions. Keep track of the
time you have—if necessary apply time limits to each answer so
everyone has the same amount of time to speak.
◦ Yes or no: Should your organization have at least one conference facilitator
so you can use this restorative justice tool?
◦ What benefit or challenge do you think this would bring to your school?
◦ If the majority say it’s worth getting someone certified:
Who in your group should become a certified
restorative conference facilitator?